Love, Your Secret Admirer
by Heavenli24
Summary: Max Evans & Liz Parker have known each other for years, going to the same schools, but they've never been friends. Max is popular & Liz not so much, but they've always noticed each other. One year, they decide to send Valentine's cards to each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Love, Your Secret Admirer  
**Author: **Heavenli24  
**Pairings/Couples/Category:** M/L  
**Rating:** TEEN  
**Disclaimer:** The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended.

**Summary:** Max Evans and Liz Parker have known each other for years, attending the same elementary school, junior high and high school, but they have never really been friends. Max is now popular and Liz is not so much, but they have always noticed each other in some way or another. What happens when, one year, they each decide to send a Valentine's card to the other?  
**Author's Note:** This fic was written for Valentine's Day 2006 (I had only been writing for a few months back then, so I apologise for the fairly short parts… and possibly not-so-great writing :P).

* * *

**Part One**

_February 3rd 1998 – West Roswell Junior High_

The side door leading in to the eighth-grade locker area opened and in she walked, accompanied by one of her friends. They took a seat on one of the benches further along the corridor, chatting happily as they did; only briefly glancing at the group of boys kicking a ball around over by another row of lockers.

Her friend must have said something amusing, because suddenly, Liz threw her head back with laughter, shoving her friend lightly on the shoulder as she did so. Across the room, Max's eyes snapped up at the sound and he stopped what he was doing, a small smile creeping onto his face as he watched her eyes light up with happiness.

"Hey, Evans! We'd like that ball back sometime today!" his friend, Kyle shouted to him a few seconds later. Realising where he was and what he was supposed to be doing, namely mucking around with his friends and a soccer ball, Max averted his eyes and quickly sent the ball back to Kyle, allowing his friends to continue playing. He remained with them, passing the ball whenever it reached him, but his mind was no longer on their game.

He couldn't stop his gaze from returning to her every so often. He wondered what it was about her that intrigued him so much. Sure, he'd known her for years; they had attended the same kindergarten and elementary school, spending seven years in the same class, but they'd never really been friends. Two years ago, when they'd left their elementary school, only a handful of students from their class had attended West Roswell Junior High, Max and Liz included, the rest opting to go to one of the other schools in the area.

Since then, it had just so happened that Max hadn't shared a single class with Liz. He'd fallen in with a popular crowd from his homeroom and while Liz wasn't exactly unpopular – he'd seen her walking the corridors surrounded by several friends – their circles just didn't mix. Max and his friends were gaining a reputation for being the most sought-after boys in school, and shy, quiet Liz Parker didn't exactly fit with the kind of girls he usually hung out with. In fact, he was actually kind of already seeing someone at the moment – a pretty, but slightly self-centred seventh-grader named Sacha, although it wasn't what you would call serious. Actually, it was more for appearances than anything else. At the beginning of sixth grade, he'd been quite eager to get to know the girls at their new school. He'd had a date every week, and often a girlfriend, although none lasted more than a few weeks – after all, he was only thirteen at the time. But since then, he'd gotten kind of bored with the dating thing and the past few months he hadn't really felt like putting much effort into it. So when Sacha asked him out a couple of weeks ago and his friends reminded him that he hadn't been on a date in a while, he'd felt he had to accept, if only to maintain his growing reputation.

Despite being a hardworking, academic girl and barely even a blip on the radar where Max's friends were concerned, he couldn't deny that Liz was cute. She was a tiny girl – one of the smallest in his class at elementary, with a slight figure and straight, shiny dark hair. Her eyes were a deep brown, almost the colour of dark chocolate, and were accented by her smooth, olive complexion. Although he knew that he shouldn't even consider approaching her, especially given his social status and his friends' views on dating outside the 'popular circle', he couldn't help but wonder what it might be like to get to know her properly.

His thoughts were disrupted by the shrill sound of the warning bell and he groaned. Reluctantly, although not for the same reasons as his friends, who wanted to continue with their game, he picked up his bag and began making his way towards homeroom. On the way out, he glanced back towards Liz, who was now surrounded by several of her own friends. A faint smile touched his face as he watched her converse with them excitedly for a moment, before he quickly turned to leave.

* * *

Liz took a deep breath as she pulled open the door and entered the locker area with her friend, Maria. She knew that he was most likely there already, mucking around with his friends and she was a little self-conscious about being in the same part of the building as him so early in the morning. Her dad always insisted on dropping her at school early, so that he could get to work. Unfortunately, it meant that hardly anyone else was there when she arrived; only Maria, since she took a bus and it got in even earlier than her and a few fellow eighth-grade boys, namely Max Evans and his friends.

She walked through the door and sure enough, there he was. Trying desperately to keep her cool around the popular crowd and not attract anyone's attention, she made her way over to a bench, as far away from them as possible, and she and Maria took a seat. She tried to concentrate on having a conversation with her friend, rather than think about the fact that Max Evans was standing just a few feet from her. Luckily, Maria had picked today to tell her a hilarious story regarding her mom and a bowl of overcooked lasagne (Maria's mom was the practically the worst cook in the world) and she found herself spending the whole time laughing and barely even thinking about Max.

If she was totally honest, she really didn't know what it was about Max that had fascinated her recently. She'd known him practically her whole life, and although he was funny – the joker of the class, you might say – and well liked in elementary school, she'd never really fancied him. Until now, that is. Maybe it was because he was considered cute and popular now. Unfortunately for her, 'cute and popular' also meant 'mysterious and unattainable' and she was smart enough to know that she no longer had a chance in hell of getting to know him better. Although, thinking about it, she wasn't sure she even had a chance in the first place. After all, although they knew each other in elementary, they were by no means friends. Sure, he had given her a ride on their first day of junior high, but that was only because her mom was unable to take her and had asked Mrs. Evans if she wouldn't mind taking her since they lived close by. That's right, Max Evans lived only a few minutes away from her, but still they didn't see each other outside of school. Actually, come to think of it, they barely saw each other in school either.

The warning bell rang and Liz looked up to find the rest of her friends entering the locker area, chatting happily. They reached her and Maria, and immediately began chatting about their weekend. When Liz finally plucked up the courage to glance in the direction of the guys, she found that they had already gone, the abandoned football in the corner being the only evidence that they had been there at all.

Realising that she had to get to homeroom, she grabbed her backpack and followed her friends along the corridor. Just before they reached the room, Liz found herself sucking in another deep breath, although not for the same reason as before. She might have been somewhat intrigued by Max Evans lately, but he wasn't the complete centre of her attention; more like a passing thought every now and then (or rather, every morning). No, there was also someone else she was currently attracted to. Namely, Scott Wilkinson, her first major crush, and she really meant major. They shared the same homeroom and several classes, and he and his friends were casual acquaintances of her group of friends. Now you might think that since they did speak on occasion, Liz might have plucked up the courage to approach him by now, but the problem was, she was just too shy. Every time she saw him, her palms got sweaty; her heart began beating crazily in her chest and her breath caught in her throat. It was even worse when she actually managed to get within a few metres of him. Hence the months of staring at him from afar.

However, this year was going to be different, she decided, as she entered the classroom and took a seat, her eyes finding him at the back of the room, where he was playing cards with two of his friends. Valentine's Day was only a week and a half away, and this year she was actually going to be bold and send a card, something she'd never done before.

* * *

Max was bored. He really wasn't into doing schoolwork today and all day long, girls had been coming up to him and dropping hints about Valentine's Day. At first, he'd tried reminding them that he was already seeing someone, but they didn't seem to want to hear it and eventually he gave up, just nodding wearily when they approached him. Come to think of it, since Sacha technically was his girlfriend, he supposed he ought to think about getting her something for Valentine's Day. So, instead of getting started on the math problem they'd been set, he spent last period racking his brains for something to get her. Only problem was, everything he came up with seemed more like something someone like Liz Parker would like and nothing that would appeal to his incredibly fashion-conscious, picky girlfriend.

And that's when he knew; this year was going to be different. This year, he was going to do something he'd never even considered before. He was going to send Liz Parker a Valentine's Card. Anonymously, of course. He couldn't risk her finding out that it was he who'd sent it, especially as he was sure she'd seen him with Sacha at school recently.

Nonetheless, he smiled excitedly; suddenly, he couldn't wait for Valentine's Day.

_TBC..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Part Two**

_February 14th 1998_

Liz's eyes snapped open as her alarm clock sounded from the table next to her bed. She reached over to turn it off and pulled herself into a sitting position. She'd set the alarm extra early this morning so that she could check the mail before anyone else. Not that she was actually expecting anything, but just in case, she didn't want the whole household knowing about it.

Carefully, she padded downstairs, a nervous feeling welling up in her chest. Luckily, the mail came early in the morning so she would be able to intercept it before her parents woke up. The feeling grew as she reached the bottom of the stairs, although it had more to do with thinking about who else would be opening Valentine's card this morning than whether she'd be getting anything herself. She'd bought and sent a card to Scott, careful to disguise her handwriting; she still wasn't ready for him to know how she felt about him. She definitely wasn't expecting anything back from him, but it was nice to hope, right?

Actually, the card to Scott wasn't the only Valentine she'd sent this year. When she was in the shop, another card had caught her eye and before she'd known it, she'd bought both of them and had mailed one to Scott and the other to…Max Evans. She still didn't know what possessed her to do it, other than the fact that her stomach did little flip-flops every time she thought about sending something to him; although it may have just been because she was considering sending a Valentine to one of the most popular, unattainable boys in school, a boy she was sure must receive dozens of Valentine's cards every year.

So now, she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs on the morning of Valentine's Day, watching the front door and waiting impatiently for the mailman to arrive. When he finally did, and the post was pushed through the letterbox and fell to the floor, Liz nearly gasped in shock. There it was, poking out from beneath some bills, a red envelope…addressed to her!

Her heart thumping, she reached for the pile of letters, sifting through them quickly, before extracting the envelope. Clutching it to her chest, she took it up to her room. It was a truly lovely card – a cute little bear, holding a heart-shaped balloon and cradling a sign saying 'Be My Valentine?' to its chest. Hands trembling, she opened it up. As she might have guessed, it was anonymous, signed only…_Love, Your Secret Admirer_…in unrecognisable handwriting, but Liz practically squealed with delight nonetheless.

She hadn't dared hope before, but could it really be true that Scott Wilkinson had sent her a Valentine?

* * *

"Come on, Max, get up. You'll be late for school!"

Max was woken by the sound of his mother knocking on his door and calling out to him. With a sigh, he swiped a hand across his face and struggled to sit up. Trust his mother; he was just having a great dream about being surrounded by admiring underwear models and she interrupted it!

He'd just made it out of bed, when he heard another knock at the door.

"Alright, Mom, I'm getting up!" he shouted in exasperation.

"Hey, Max," his sister's taunting voice floated through the door. "Guess who's got some mail?"

"Oh, God," he mumbled, fighting back a groan.

It was Valentine's Day. He'd almost managed to forget about it, but no such luck now. He practically stalked to the door and yanked it open, revealing Isabel standing on the other side, fanning herself with about half a dozen pink and red envelopes, all with his name on. Embarrassed in front of his sister, he quickly snatched them from her hand and shut the door.

Ignoring Isabel's cry of protest at his rudeness, he sat down on his bed, thumbing through the envelopes. Almost with a sense of dread, he slid his finger under the flap of the first, and began opening the cards, one by one. He hated that all these girls, girls he didn't even know, thought they could just send him a sappy pink card just because someone declared it Valentine's Day. It practically felt like an invasion of privacy.

The first Valentine's were from four girls in his eighth-grade class. Each one made it explicitly clear exactly who had sent it and a couple had even included their phone numbers. One of them actually felt it appropriate to make lewd suggestions about what the two of them might get up to in the janitor's closet come Monday afternoon! The fifth card was from Sacha, although it was pretty non-descript, with a big red heart on the front and a printed poem inside. She'd signed it '_Happy Valentine's Day, love Sacha'_. He couldn't really complain though, Max reasoned, considering that he hadn't really spent much time or effort on her card. No, that honour had gone to Liz's Valentine, which he'd picked out with painstaking care, making sure that he chose the one that he hoped she would like the most. As he tore open the sixth and final envelope, Max's thoughts drifted briefly to Liz as he imagined her opening his card this morning. Would she like it? He hoped so.

He pulled out the last card. Of all of them, this was the by far the nicest. It wasn't too bright or garish, but instead brilliantly subtle. There was barely any pink or red in sight; no, someone had good taste; this was a definitely a card suitable for a boy. He opened it up, eager to find out who had sent it, but unlike the others, this one was unsigned, stating only that it was from his secret admirer, although it did contain a couple of lines of handwritten prose. This was definitely the one that stood out the most and for weeks, even months afterwards, he would wonder who it could have been from.

Max simply sat there and stared at the card, until his mother's annoyed voice called up again, and he knew that he had to get ready for school. Unfortunately, going to school would also mean that he'd have to face Sacha, and to be honest, he'd found her getting on his nerves this past week. She'd want to know what he had planned for them tonight and there was no way he could tell her the truth: that he still had no idea what to do. Most likely, he would end up going by his friends' suggestions of dinner and a movie, which really, could be done any night of the week, not just on Valentine's. But so far, he'd had no other ideas, so it looked like dinner and a movie was going to be the _choix du jour_.

* * *

Liz made her way into school excitedly, hoping that Maria would already be there. Luckily she was. Liz found her sitting on a bench, the same one they usually occupied in the mornings, her nose buried in a magazine.

"Maria, guess what?" she cried, pulling the magazine from her friend's hands.

"Hey! I was reading that!" Maria cried in protest.

Liz shook her head, "No, Maria, this is way more important."

With a roll of her eyes, Maria sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay, fine. I give up, what's so important?"

Liz leaned in closer, lowering her voice, "I got a Valentine's card this morning."

Maria frowned, "So? It's Valentine's Day; lots of people get cards."

"I think it was from Scott," she whispered.

"Scott Wilkinson? No way!"

"Yeah." Liz couldn't prevent the smile that crept onto her face.

"So, what – did he sign it, '_Love, Scott'_, or something?" asked Maria curiously.

"Well, no, but – "

"So, how do you know it was from him?"

"Well, who else could it be from? I've noticed Scott looking in my direction a couple of times this week; maybe he finally decided to make a move?"

Maria sighed and held in her reservations and decided to let her friend indulge in her fantasy for now, replying simply, "Maybe he did."

"Wow, I can't believe this!" Liz exclaimed happily. "Scott Wilkinson likes me! You know what Maria? I think I'm going to ask him out."

_TBC..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Part Three**

_February 16th 1999_

Okay, so it had been a whole year and in all that time, Liz hadn't yet plucked up the courage to ask Scott Wilkinson out. Although they had become somewhat tentative friends over the past few months, every time Liz thought she was ready to approach him, she found herself backing out at the last minute, still unsure of whether to finally take the plunge. She'd never been any good around boys she liked and whenever she was in Scott's presence, the old shyness always came back in full force. Until today, that was.

It had all changed this year; it was their first year at West Roswell High and when Liz had found another Valentine's card in her mailbox on Saturday, written in the same handwriting as the year before, again signed _Love, Your Secret Admirer_, she was certain that it had to be from Scott. So today, she'd finally managed to overcome her shyness and at the end of fourth period, she'd caught up with Scott and asked him on a date.

He'd said yes and now they were going to the movies on Friday night. Liz spent the rest of the day wandering around in a daze, a huge grin plastered on her face. She had a date with Scott Wilkinson! Life was great!

* * *

Max looked out for Liz during school today. Despite his better judgement, he hadn't been able to stop himself from sending her another card this year. He knew it was silly, and probably a stupid idea, since the possibility of actually being able to date her was pretty much zero, but he'd seen the perfect card and hadn't been able to resist.

He wondered if she'd realised yet that he was the one who'd sent it and couldn't help imagining her reaction if she had. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, his hopes of her discovering that fact and approaching him about it were dashed. News travelled fast around the school and it wasn't long before it reached Max's ears that Liz Parker and Scott Wilkinson had a date for Friday night. He tried not to show his disappointment at the fact that Liz had obviously received more than one Valentine's card, although he should have known that other people would find her attractive too; after all, it wasn't like any of his friends actually knew about his little crush on studious Liz Parker.

Fleetingly, he thought back to the anonymous Valentine's card he'd received on Saturday. It was from the same girl who'd sent one last year. He was sure of that because it was written in the same indistinguishable handwriting. For a moment on that day, he'd briefly wondered if there was any possibility that it could have been from Liz Parker, but that thought was completely dismissed today, when he'd heard the news about her and Scott; especially the part where she'd been the one to ask him out.

Man, life certainly was depressing right now.

* * *

_September 22nd 1999_

Liz had been dating Scott for more than seven months now and she truly was having the time of her life. Soon after they started going out, Scott had confessed to her that he'd liked her for a long time, practically since the beginning of junior high, but he'd been too chicken to say anything. Liz never actually got around to asking him straight out about the Valentine's Day cards that she'd assumed were from him. She was positive that they were, though. After all, who else could have sent her those cards?

Well anyway, hopefully they would still be together come next February (that is, if the world didn't end on January 1st 2000) and then there would be no guessing about cards and presents.

* * *

Max was miserable. He hadn't had a serious girlfriend (or even a casual one) in months and his friends were starting to worry that he was losing his touch, but the truth was, he couldn't seem to find anyone that could hold his attention for more than a week. He also had to admit that it was still strange for him to see Liz and Scott walking around school together, hand-in-hand. He'd never really seen her with a guy before Scott and he actually felt it was unfair that she should be so happy when he couldn't be.

What he needed was a girl, one that he actually liked, to take his mind off Liz and her perfect relationship.

But who?

His prayers were answered a few weeks later, when a new girl arrived at the school. Her name was Amanda Thomas and she was tall and blonde and every guy's fantasy. Being one of the 'in-crowd', Max practically had first pick (mainly because the rest of the guys were getting worried about the lack of action in Max's love life and therefore, stood back to make way for him) and by the end of November, he and Amanda were an item.

Despite outward appearances, Max actually found her fun and interesting. They could talk for hours about TV and films and books and for once, it didn't feel like a forced relationship. He could just be himself around her and in the process, he could almost forget about his growing feelings for Liz Parker.

* * *

_February 14th 2000_

Well, the world didn't end like the Y2K enthusiasts had predicted, and Liz and Scott's relationship had made it to Valentine's Day. It was the moment of truth, the one where she found out once and for all that it indeed had been Scott who sent those cards to her the past two years. Liz heard the postman arrive and with a thumping heart, she crept downstairs to check the mail. Sure enough, there was a red envelope with the now familiar, but still disguised handwriting on the front. Liz smiled to herself. Obviously, Scott had decided to stick with tradition. She just hoped he'd written a special message for her inside and finally decided to sign his name.

With excited fingers, she tore at the envelope and pulled out the card, smiling at the cute bear on the front – another tradition, although this time it was holding a heart-shaped box of chocolates to its chest. Eagerly anticipating the message inside, she opened it up. Her smile vanished. It was the definitely the same handwriting as the last two cards – the ones she'd thought were from her from her soon-to-be boyfriend – but it was still anonymously signed and even contained a small apology for sending it even though she was currently involved with someone.

Liz couldn't breathe. The cards weren't from Scott Wilkinson, not even close. She'd made a mistake in believing that he was being romantic and had sent them before they were going out. God, it suddenly felt like their entire relationship was a lie. Liz ran upstairs and dug out the previous cards from under her bed. They were definitely from the same person.

So if Scott, her boyfriend, hadn't sent them, then who had?

* * *

_February 14th 2000_

Max was practically kicking himself the morning of Valentine's Day. He'd given into temptation and send yet another card to Liz. How could he have been so stupid? Who on earth would send someone a Valentine when they already had a boyfriend? God, what would Scott think if he saw it? Max hated the thought that Liz's boyfriend might assume she was cheating on him or something.

After several minutes of cursing his incredibly stupid decision, he let his body fall back onto his mattress with a sigh. What could he do now? It was too late to go and take it back; most likely, Liz had already opened it.

It seemed he was back to square one again. He'd split up with Amanda a few weeks previously, when they both realised that although they had fun together, in the end they just weren't all that attracted to one another. If he was honest, Max wasn't particularly cut up about it. He and Amanda had stayed friends, and partly due to her relationship with him, she had been readily accepted into their popular group. A couple of weeks ago, she'd even pulled him to one side and admitted that she liked his friend Kyle Valenti a lot and would he mind terribly if she went out with him. Luckily, Max felt no jealousy towards Kyle and assured her that he didn't mind at all if they got together.

Only problem was, now Max was back to his original dilemma: growing feelings for Liz Parker and no girlfriend of his own to distract him and take his mind off them. Max was so caught up in thoughts of how he was going to survive seeing Liz and Scott looking so loved-up every day at school, that when his sister handed him his usual pile of Valentine's cards, it barely even registered that this year his anonymous admirer had not sent one.

* * *

Liz was at a loss. Last night, Scott had taken her out for a lovely romantic dinner at a popular Italian restaurant in town. He'd wined (well, not technically, since they were still only fifteen years old) and dined her, and at the end of the evening, he had produced a large card and brightly wrapped present – a dainty silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant, and although under any other circumstances, Liz would have found the whole thing incredibly romantic, her thoughts were just not with Scott last night, but rather with her secret admirer.

She rushed into school, frantic to speak to Maria about her discovery. She found her at her locker, an annoyed expression on her usually smiling face, but before Liz could open her mouth, Maria opened hers and a slew of insults came out.

"The little bastard! Just who does he think he is? Sending me a Valentine as if he gives a damn! I mean, honestly, Liz!" she cried, her arms gesturing wildly.

"Uh…Maria, what are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about? Don't you mean who?" Liz shrugged and Maria carried on regardless. "Well, I'll tell you – the bane of my existence, Michael 'I'm so cool' Guerin – that's who!"

Liz's eyes widened. "Wait, Michael Guerin sent you a Valentine? As in practically the most popular guy in school, bar only Max Evans, Michael Guerin?"

Liz was suddenly thankful that Maria didn't know about her strange infatuation with Max Evans. To her, he was just another one of those stuck-up, 'cool' kids. Hence, Maria's disgust at the fact that Michael Guerin, one of Max's best friends, had sent her a card. Liz wasn't quite so surprised though; everyone had noticed, well everyone except Maria it seemed, that Michael could often be found looking in her friend's direction. Unfortunately, Maria had been so adamant about her hatred of popular kids that no one had ever dared suggest to her that Michael might be interested in her.

"Yes! I mean, my God! He didn't even bother to stay anonymous – he signed it with a great big fat Michael Guerin at the end!" she exclaimed. "Liz, what am I going to do?"

"Well, I might suggest that you go and find him and thank him for the card," Liz reasoned. "It's obvious that he wants you to know how he feels, Maria; otherwise he wouldn't have signed it."

"How he feels? Oh God, Liz. I'm gonna have to talk to him face-to-face, aren't I?" Maria pulled a disgusted face to cover up the nervous butterflies that were suddenly going on a rampage in her stomach. "So, what did you and Scotty-boy get up to for Valentine's then? He buy you something expensive?" she changed the subject.

Liz's face fell at the mention of her boyfriend. "See, that's the thing, Maria, I found out something new yesterday and now I don't know what to do."

"Liz?" Maria watched her friend with a troubled frown.

"You know the Valentine's cards that I've been getting from Scott the last couple of years? The ones that convinced me to finally ask him out?"

"Yeah?" Maria asked, unsure of where the conversation was going.

"Well, I got another one yesterday…obviously, since it was Valentine's Day; but there was a problem."

"Which was…?"

"It wasn't from Scott," Liz confessed quietly. "And it was written in the same handwriting as the others. Which means that those weren't from Scott either."

There was a slight pause from Maria as the words sunk in, before, "You mean…?"

Liz nodded. "It was all just a misunderstanding. I asked out Scott because of someone else's card. What do I do now? Do I tell him the truth, the real reason we're together? Or do I just keep on pretending that this other guy doesn't exist?"

"Liz, do you love Scott? Because if you do, it shouldn't make a difference whether he sent you those cards or not."

Liz shook her head in frustration. "I don't know, Maria. I care for him, I really do, but I just don't know if I'm in love with him."

"Look," Maria started kindly. "If I were you, I wouldn't do anything drastic just yet. Spend some time with Scott and see how you feel for now. I mean, just because he didn't send those cards, doesn't mean that he doesn't care about you."

Liz sighed, "You're right, I shouldn't do anything just yet. But, Maria…if it wasn't Scott that sent them, who did?"

"I don't know, Liz; but maybe you shouldn't dwell on it too much, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, "Okay, fine; I'll concentrate on things with Scott for now." There was a pause as she considered her decision. "So, Michael Guerin, huh? Do you think you two will…?"

"Liz!" Maria admonished, but then a smile broke across her face. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

_TBC..._


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

_February 14th 2001_

Liz's heart skipped a beat as the mail dropped through the letterbox. As stupid as it seemed, she was desperate to see if her now infamous 'secret admirer' would send her yet another card. In fact, the thought of receiving one from him once again was practically the only thing that had been keeping her going the past couple of months.

After Valentine's last year, Liz had taken Maria's advice and kept quiet about the anonymous cards, and she had carried on in her relationship with Scott as if nothing had ever happened. As time went on and sophomore year came to an end, she found herself thinking less and less of the mysterious sender of the cards and more about her current relationship with Scott. They'd been getting on really well over the last few months and Liz found her feelings for him growing steadily. Although they'd kept their relationship fairly innocent until then, by the end of August, and with junior year fast approaching, Liz finally decided that she was ready to take the next step with him.

Her first time was not exactly what she had expected it to be. She had been incredibly nervous, and although her boyfriend had done everything he could to help her relax, the whole experience had just been awkward and uncomfortable. Since then, they'd been intimate several more times, but each time, Liz felt that something was missing. Sure, Scott was sweet and loving and made sure that he paid attention to her needs, but making love to him wasn't as all-consuming and passionate as she had hoped and always imagined it would be.

Needless to say, it didn't really come as a surprise to her when, in December, Scott had sat her down and told her that he didn't think they were working anymore. Even though she knew that he was telling the truth – that they'd really only been going through the motions for the past few weeks – it still upset her that they were no longer together.

She had moped about the house for a few weeks afterwards, but one evening when she was cleaning her room, she came across the old Valentine's cards that her 'secret admirer' had sent her for the past three years. Suddenly a flicker of hope rose up inside her chest. Maybe this year, her admirer would send her another Valentine and maybe she could find out who he was.

With a sigh, Liz snuck a glance at the pile of letters on the doormat. Sure enough, there was a pink envelope lodged between her mother's cookery magazine and the phone bill. She reached down and picked it up, closing her eyes briefly as she plucked up the courage to peek at the handwriting on the front.

It was from him.

Excitedly holding the card to her chest, she rushed up the stairs and shut herself inside her bedroom. She tore open the seal of the envelope and it pulled out. Again, it was that same teddy bear on the front, but this time, a cute girl bear was next to him, placing a kiss on his cheek.

She didn't know what she'd expected to read inside the card, but when she opened it up, she found herself sighing with both disappointment and frustration – yet again, it was signed, '_Love, Your Secret Admirer'_, with no other indication of who it might be from.

God, why would someone send her all these cards if he didn't want her to know who he was?

Her thoughts briefly focused on the fact that this year and for the past few years (apart from when she was with Scott, obviously), she'd also been sending anonymous cards; God, she hadn't been able to resist and had even done it again this year. The thing was, she didn't even consider that to be on the same scale as her predicament. For a start, Max was the most popular guy in school, and hers were most likely just three cards in a pile of dozens. After all, it wasn't like Max would actually have spent any time trying to figure out who had sent them. He had better things to do; including dating gorgeous girls like Amanda Thomas and the rest of the junior class. So, she'd decided once more not to send him a card this year. Last year, her reason had been obvious. She'd been in a pretty serious relationship and it really wasn't appropriate to think about another guy at the same time.

It didn't even cross her mind that the very person she had been secretly admiring for so long could be the same guy who'd been admiring her from afar for just as long.

And in any case, why would he be interested in someone like her anyway?

* * *

_March 25th 2001_

It was stupid. Max had once again given in and sent a Valentine to Liz Parker for the fourth year in a row, and although it should have been obvious, he still didn't know why he kept doing it; or why he made sure not to give away his identity. What he did know however, was that something was stopping him from going up to her and asking her out, thereby admitting the truth in the process.

Maybe it was because he was popular, or because Liz was considered a brain by his friends and therefore not worth his time, but every time he even entertained the idea of spilling his guts to her, a small voice in the back of his head warned him not to.

Which was why, when the opportunity arose for him to get his mind off her, he complied eagerly; and now today, he was feeling over the moon.

Max had a date tonight with the nicest girl he'd met in a long time (excluding Liz, of course, but he didn't really know her that well, so he wasn't counting her). He hadn't really dated all that much since he'd broken up with Amanda last year and then Kyle had asked her out, but a couple of weeks ago, he'd met someone new at a party…a sophomore named Jennifer Scott. She was pretty, with wavy dark hair and smiling hazel eyes. Max couldn't say for sure what it was, but something just drew him to her and when his friend Alex introduced them, he found himself talking animatedly with her for the entire night. He offered her a lift home and as he pulled up outside her house, she asked him for his number.

He hadn't really expected her to call, especially since they'd both been drinking that night and neither of them were entirely sober, but lo and behold a couple of days later, she called. They went to the movies that weekend and Max found himself having a great time with her. Now, two weeks later, here he was getting ready for their third date – something he hadn't experienced with any girl since Amanda. He knew how important the third date could be for a relationship and he also knew that Jennifer could be expecting him to want to take the relationship further, and if he was being honest, Max wasn't totally opposed to the idea. It wouldn't be his first time – he'd slept with Amanda a few times and a couple of girls before that and let's face it, Jennifer was hot! He couldn't deny that he was physically attracted to her. Maybe getting laid tonight was just what he needed.

In any case, if it didn't work out afterwards, then it didn't work out; but if it did…well then, he would have a gorgeous, smart and funny girlfriend, and the sex would just be an added bonus.

**

* * *

**

_October 15th 2001_

Max's third date with Jennifer had worked out and now, six months later they were still happily together (and the sex _was_ great). Although Max thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Jennifer, he found he was also noticing Liz more and more. It didn't help that this year they shared the majority of their classes and he occasionally found himself chatting to her in class or asking her about their homework assignments outside of class. Because many of their classes were the same, it also meant that they had similar free periods. He would often find her working pretty much alone in the library and occasionally he would join her at the table she was working on. They'd work almost in silence most of the time (well, it was a library, after all), only speaking when one of them was having a problem with an assignment and needed help.

Over the last few weeks, he'd gotten to know her even better. Despite being good students, they had both been struggling in their shared Physics class and the whole class in general had received bad grades in the recent midterms. In any case, Liz's mom had bumped into Max's mom not long after and had apparently discussed finding an outside tutor to help them out. So, it turned out that he and Liz were now spending Thursday evenings in a joint tutoring session with a local college professor; which meant that, since Liz did not yet have a driver's license, he was required to pick her up from her house and drive them both to the professor's house and back every week.

Although he felt a little awkward being in such close proximity to her for almost three hours in one night, especially considering that he had a steady, loyal girlfriend, who as far as everyone at school was concerned, he loved very much, he couldn't help looking forward to spending the time with her every week. He was beginning to see more of the real Liz Parker; the funny, slightly kooky persona that not many kids at school knew about. On the odd occasion, he even imagined confessing to her that he'd been her secret admirer all this time, but if he was totally honest, he wasn't sure that he could see them working as a couple in the world of high school politics. And anyway, he hadn't seen her with a new boyfriend since Scott. Maybe she just wasn't interested in a relationship right now.

No matter how hard he tried to just forget about Liz and concentrate on his relationship with Jennifer, he still couldn't help offering her a ride home from school occasionally when he saw her walking home. After all, the offer was reasonable, since they lived only a couple of blocks from each other and it was almost a forty-five minute walk back from the high school. It really didn't seem like that much of a big deal anyway; because Jennifer was usually in the car with them too and she didn't seem to mind.

But, as much as he'd like to say that things with Jennifer were going badly and that if her could, he would dump her and ask Liz out instead, he couldn't. Jennifer was a great girl and he really didn't see their relationship ending any time soon.

So, for now, he pushed any lingering thought of her aside and continued on with life as normal.

* * *

Liz was also pretty content with her life right now. It had been ten months since she and Scott had broken up, and although she'd been on a few dates in that time, she hadn't had any proper boyfriends, which was fine by her. She felt that she needed a breather for now and in turn, that gave her more time to concentrate on her schoolwork. It had been a pretty tough year so far, and if she had any chance of getting into her top choice college, she really needed to work hard for it.

It didn't help that she'd been failing in Physics recently, although it didn't seem so bad, because apparently the whole class was finding the course difficult and therefore were getting bad grades. Liz couldn't believe it however, when her mom suggested that she go for private lessons with a tutor…and with Max Evans no less!

She'd barely spent any time thinking about him this year, preferring to concentrate more on school and less on boys; but still it was weird being alone with him in his car for close to an hour and also spending two hours in a room with only him and their tutor every week. She knew that he had a girlfriend, a pretty serious one if their reputation around school was anything to go by, but it still felt kind of nice to spend some time with him away from the high school social ladder. She was also getting used to being in close proximity to him without going all shy and girly. In order to have a normal, simple conversation with him about homework and tutorial arrangements, she found that she had to put all thoughts of him as an attractive guy to the back of her mind and pretend that she was just talking to one of her friends. She just hoped that she didn't turn red and give away her feelings whenever they spoke.

She found it rather flattering that he often chose to sit with her in the library when they had a free study period. All of her own friends had different schedules and were usually in class during those times, so she would end up studying on her own. But Max would come in occasionally and instead of finding himself another table to sit at alone, he would ask to join her.

It was nice, like a reminder that they had indeed known each other for all that time before junior high began. She had to smile at the fact that even six years on, he would still sometimes call her Lizzie, the name she went by in elementary school. When they first started at West Roswell Junior High, she'd decided that 'Lizzie' sounded too young and that she would be going by 'Liz' from now on. But since she and Max hadn't really spoken much those first few years, he still knew her as Lizzie.

Liz had to laugh though at the situation that had occurred last week whilst they were studying in the library. A class of freshmen had been browsing for books for an English assignment, and halfway through fourth period, one of the freshman girls had approached their table and confessed that her friend on the other side of the room thought he was cute. Liz just sat there, studying her Math textbook whilst biting back a grin as she witnessed Max trying to get out of that situation.

Of course, she knew that this was not a one-off occurrence for Max Evans; she had seen many girls approach him over the years, but this time, she got to watch his reaction firsthand. It was great, he was so polite towards the girl, somehow letting her down gently and also managing to persuade her to return to her friends only a minute later and when she had gone, he looked over at Liz with a sheepish grin and rolled his eyes. She had grinned back, and they had shared a quick moment, before they'd both turned back to their work and it was forgotten.

_TBC…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Seven**

_February 14th 2002_

Valentine's Day dawned bright and sunny, albeit a little cold. For Max though, the nice weather went unnoticed, his concentration too caught up in what he was planning to do today. He'd decided a couple of weeks ago that he could no longer ignore the feeling that he got in the pit of his stomach every time he so much as glanced in Liz Parker's direction. So, with a heavy heart, he'd resigned himself to the fact that sometime in the following two weeks, he'd have to break up with Jennifer, most likely breaking her heart in the process. He really did feel guilty about having to do that to her, but he was sure that it would be for the best. He'd had so much fun with her at first and he genuinely liked and cared for her, but it was getting closer and closer to the end of senior year and high school graduation and he knew that if he didn't take the opportunity now to find out there was a chance for he and Liz, then he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Despite becoming casual friends over the last few months, their lives were still pretty separate and they never saw or spoke to each other outside of school unless it was study-related. They'd both applied to college and had each been accepted to their first choices. He knew that Liz had gone ahead and applied to Harvard to study Biology, although unfortunately, after a tough three days of interviews, hadn't been accepted. Last he'd heard, she'd been offered places at a couple of well-respected schools, although he wasn't too sure which ones, and was hoping to gain a scholarship to one of them.

He too had applied to study Biology, but his applications had been for different schools. He'd put a lot of thought into which colleges offered the best programme for him and had eventually decided on a school in California.

So, in just a few months, everyone at West Roswell High would be heading in different directions and he was just now realising that it would be stupid to leave for college and not have said anything to Liz about his feelings. Over the weekend, he'd finally plucked up the courage to let Jennifer down as nicely as he could; which he had to admit, didn't go down too well, but now he was free to talk to Liz. And since it was Valentine's Day, it seemed appropriate that he got everything out in the open today. He'd sent one last card to Liz this year and had even included a quote and a small note inside which stated that he hoped she'd be attending the Valentine's party being thrown for the seniors tonight at a local hotel. Actually, it was his party – organised by himself and a couple of his friends, but he was careful not to let the 'my party' part slip when he wrote the card; he didn't want to scare her off or anything.

He was planning on talking to her at the party and hopefully (if he didn't lose his nerve) tell her the truth about the cards and that he would like to date her. Actually, he was pretty sure she would be attending anyway. After all, her best friend Maria was dating one of his best friends. They'd been together since Michael had sent her a signed Valentine's card a couple of years ago.

Wait a minute, if no one had thought anything of the fact that Michael Guerin was dating someone outside of their social circle, then why had Max made sure that his cards had remained anonymous. Why had he not plucked up the courage to explore his feelings for her sooner? The only explanation that he could come up with was that it wasn't so much the fact that he was popular, but more that Liz had known him for so long. She'd known him as a loud-mouthed, bratty kid; she'd watched as he became popular in junior high; and then acquired a reputation for smoking and drinking and having sex with lots of girls (although, the sex part had been grossly exaggerated, mainly by himself when he was a freshman in order to look cool). But the thing was, she also knew that there was much more to him than that and that's what scared him.

She knew that he still went to church every Sunday with his parents, as he had done since they were kids. She knew his family and occasionally spoke to his mother when she walked over to his house instead of him picking her up for their Physics tutorials. She knew that underneath his high school persona, he really was a nice guy. But that also meant that he wouldn't be able to use his 'Big Man on Campus' attitude to sweet-talk her. He would just have to be himself and that's what worried him.

What if she rejected him? Or even worse, just wasn't interested?

At that thought, he rolled off the bed and reached into his dresser drawer to pull out the small pile of Valentine's cards that he'd been collecting the past few years. He still had no idea who had sent them, but there was something about those few cards that made him smile and in some weird way, comforted him. He'd noticed that there were only three cards, even though they first one had been sent four years ago. He briefly wondered why whoever she was had decided not to send a card that year.

He was still staring down at the cards in his hand when his mother shouted up that he was going to be late for school if he didn't hurry. With a sigh, he returned the cards to the drawer and stood up to pull on some clothes. He made his way downstairs to the kitchen, only to find a pile of cards addressed to him on the table when he got there. He sighed, not really caring too much for most of them – he got cards every year from young freshmen and sophomores that he didn't know, but had obviously looked up his address in the phone book. Leafing through them, he was just about ready to throw them straight in the bin when the last one caught his eye and he smiled. It was another card from her. It was strange that before, he hadn't even bothered to find out who had sent these cards to him; it seemed that simply receiving them had been enough for him over the years, but today he found himself curious.

Maybe after the party tonight and after talking to Liz, he would track down the sender and thank her for the cards, letting her know that he appreciated them. If everything worked out between himself and Liz tonight, he would also ask her not to send anything more in the future if they were together.

Max ate his breakfast quickly, before grabbing his things for school and heading out the door. It was a shame that he had an entire day to get through before he could finally talk to Liz at the party tonight.

**

* * *

**

_February 14th 2002_

Liz walked into the party with a smile on her face. She'd received yet another card from her secret admirer this morning and this time he'd included a romantic quote about stars and her making him smile, and had left a small note at the bottom saying that he hoped she'd come to the party tonight, which implied that he would be there. Maybe tonight she would finally find out who he was!

Glancing around the room, she saw Maria standing at the bar with Michael. They looked to be engaged in an intense conversation; although knowing Maria, she was probably reprimanding him for not wearing a tie that matched her outfit or something. Deciding to let them be for now, she let her eyes wander again and finally spotted her friend Alex, who was sitting at one of the tables talking to a couple of his computer club buddies.

She took a step forward, intent on making her way over to him to say hi, but was stopped by a broad, shirt-clad chest stepping in front of her.

"Liz, hey." It was Max. "Glad you could make it."

"No problem, Max," she smiled, butterflies going mad in her stomach suddenly.

She wondered how he could make her all nervous and sweaty with just one sentence today, when she'd been perfectly comfortable (well, almost) around him in school recently. They looked at each other for a moment before Max suddenly turned his head.

"Shit, it's getting kinda crazy over there. I'd better go sort it out." Liz turned in the direction he was looking. Sure enough, there were a couple of guys in the corner who looked like they were about to start a fight. "I'll see you later, Liz. Save me a dance, okay?"

"Sure," she smiled and watched him as he approached the guys across the room, before turning back and letting out a breath as she resumed her journey over to Alex.

Two hours and a couple of drinks from the bar later (how on earth did Max and his buddies arrange that one? It wasn't like anyone here even looked 21), Liz and Maria were having the time of their lives on the dance floor as the DJ played classic 80's pop songs. Liz was inwardly glad that so far this evening the DJ hadn't given in to Valentine's Day pressure and played loads of slow, romantic songs. For a start, it was incredibly cheesy and secondly, she was currently without a boyfriend, and the whole thing would just be awkward, especially since Maria would be pretty much glued to Michael for the rest of the evening once the slow songs started. But for now, she was content with the fast paced dance songs that were playing and she could just kick back and enjoy herself for a while.

Unfortunately, her happiness was short-lived as barely 15 minutes later the DJ switched and started up a string of love songs. She watched Maria's face light up as Michael approached them and took her in his arms. Liz sent her a small smile before excusing herself from the dance floor and taking a seat at one of the tables opposite. She sat there alone for a few minutes, munching on chips from the snack bowl that had been placed on the table, until an outstretched hand appeared in front of her and a male voice asked with a small bow,

"May I have this dance, milady?"

"Of course you may, kind sir," she grinned and took his hand.

He led her to the edge of the floor, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist as she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"You're such a goofball sometimes, Alex," she smiled as they swayed to the music.

"I know," he grinned. "But I couldn't just let you sit there all alone on the night of Valentine's Day, now could I?"

"So, asking me to dance has nothing to do with the fact that you're too scared to ask Isabel Evans to dance?"

His mouth dropped open in mock outrage, "No, of course not!" he exclaimed and she gave him a look. "Well, maybe just a little," he confessed a second later.

"Okay, this is what we're gonna do. I'm going to dance with you now, but later you have to go ask her to dance, alright?"

"But, Liz…"

"No buts, Alex. Otherwise I'm leaving the dance floor this minute and you have to ask her right now."

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

Liz grinned at his discomfort, but leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder nonetheless. The continued to move to the slow music for two more songs until someone tapped Alex on the other shoulder and Liz was startled from her relaxed position.

"Do you mind if I cut in?" It was Max again.

"No, not at all," Alex replied, looking at Liz speculatively. "Go ahead."

Alex moved away, leaving Liz alone with Max, but before she turned to face Max, Liz glanced at Alex and mouthed 'Isabel' to him. His eyes widened, but he gave a slight nod anyway before walking away.

"Hey again, Liz," smiled Max. "So, can I get that dance now?"

"Uh…sure, okay," she smiled hesitantly and was a little unsure of herself as he pulled her into his arms.

They moved in silence for a couple of minutes, Max's hands on her waist and her arms placed on his shoulders like she had done with Alex, just moving to the music, as Liz searched her brains for something to say.

"So, I haven't seen Jennifer around tonight. Is she here?" Well, it wasn't the best thing they could talk about, but it was a start.

"Oh…um, actually…no, she's not," Max pulled away slightly to look at her. "We broke up," he said simply.

"You did?" Liz questioned sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Max shook his head, "No, it's okay. I was the one who broke it off."

"Oh," said Liz, uncertain of what she should say.

But Max elaborated, "It was for the best. See, there's been this other girl on my mind for quite a while now and it wasn't fair on Jennifer to stay in a relationship with her."

"Oh," she murmured again, her heart sinking.

Max liked someone else? She knew she shouldn't be upset about that; after all, he could choose pretty much any girl he liked and they wouldn't say no; and it's not like it was realistic to even consider that Max might want to date her, of all people.

"Liz, there's something…" he trailed off suddenly, looking a little confused, but then sucked in a breath and leaned in to murmur close to her ear, "_If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you made me smile, I would have the whole night sky in the palm of my hand_."

She gasped, her mouth falling open at his words. The words she'd read from her secret admirer only a few hours ago!

"Max?" she whispered, looking up to find him smiling down at her tenderly. "That quote…the cards…it was you?"

He nodded, his smile growing to a grin. "Yes."

"All this time…?"

"Yes," his voice had dropped to just above a whisper and his gaze was intense. "I think that it's always been you, Liz. Ever since before we started junior high together…there was always something about you."

"Me?" she practically squeaked. This couldn't be happening. Could it? When he nodded once again, so assured and confident, she had to stop and take a breath. "But…I don't get it…why didn't you say something before?"

"I was scared," he confessed. "I didn't think you'd want the person I've become since then. It just seemed like there would be too many obstacles, I guess."

"Max…" Liz breathed. "You've got it all wrong; I do want you. I feel the same way, okay? I have done for a while."

"God…" he breathed. I've been so stupid, just sitting back and not saying anything all this time." He reached up and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, making Liz shiver in response. "Can you forgive me?"

She nodded and opened her mouth to voice as much, but before she could get a word out, his hand cupped her neck and his lips were on hers, caressing them softly before taking them passionately. Liz couldn't think; there were so many emotions flowing through her right now that she could barely make sense of what had just happened. She sighed into his mouth, as her lips parted and he deftly slid his tongue inside, entwining it with hers. Her arms moved up to wrap around his neck as his hand on her lower back tightened, pulling her closer.

It was several minutes before they pulled apart, each panting and trying to catch their breath. Max lowered his hand from her neck to meet his other at her waist and Liz loosened her grip on his neck, allowing her hands to slide back down and rest on his solid chest.

"Max, there's something I need to tell you, too," she hesitated; trying to figure out how to tell him about the cards she'd been sending without it coming out wrong.

"What is it?" he asked, somewhat breathlessly.

"I've been sending cards to you, too. Since 8th grade," she looked straight ahead at his chest as she spoke.

If she'd been looking at his face, she would have seen his jaw drop and his eyes widen in surprise.

"You…you're _my_ secret admirer?" he exhaled in wonderment. Liz nodded, her gaze still downcast. "God, Liz; what have we been doing all these years? All this time we've wasted?" Liz looked up to find an incredulous expression on his face.

"I didn't think you'd ever…" she started, but then shook her head "God, I should have said something!"

"Yeah, well, me too."

A thought suddenly struck Liz. "Shit, Scott!"

Max looked around, bewildered. "Scott?"

"Max, those first two cards…I thought they were from Scott. That's why I asked him out! Shit, what did I do? I should have found out for sure. I didn't even realise they weren't from him until it was too late!"

"Liz, it doesn't matter, okay?" Max tilted her head up with his hand. "Hey, I made mistakes too. I dated other girls instead of approaching you," he comforted. "How about we just forget about the past couple of years and just concentrate on the future?"

Relieved, Liz nodded, leaning into his palm, which was now resting on her cheek. "I can do that."

"Okay," he smiled. "So, Liz Parker…will you go out with me?"

"Yes," she smiled. "Yes, Max Evans, I will."

Sharing a tender smile with Max, Liz leaned up and her lips met his once more. As the kiss deepened, she held him close, the surroundings fading away as she finally allowed herself to enjoy everything that she'd wanted for so long.

**The End**


End file.
